One comment on “Very good report on Japanese criminal justice system from British Channel 4”

Forgive me if I will use a dumb analogy, but the Japanese government’s refusal to admit any fault in this situation reminds me terribly White Star Line proclaiming that their beloved Titanic was “unsinkable” while in fact the US senate inquiry found that the entire enterprise was overwhelmed with errors and overlooked security concerns. Wouldn’t the absence of such blind pride in the ocean liner have led to better safety precautions?

Self-criticism is the first step toward self-improvement, and pride I think is a very big obstacle to self-criticism. Until there is a true, honest, transparent discussion between the Japanese government and its citizens, I don’t think there is much that will improve. Perhaps if Minshuto comes to power the situation might get better since they seem more transparent to me, but maybe I’m just being naive. I think its urgent though that more movies are made about this and more journalists write about it. People have to talk about it. People have to be as conscious as possible about it. I think something must be done to get this problem to become a major issue in elections, so that people will vote keeping in mind “which party will pay the most attention to the problem that if I get wrongly accused of a crime I’m almost certain to end up in prison?” and that the politicians will know that unless they do something the population will seem them as having betrayed their trust.

Let’s hope things get better. For human rights’ sake. There are people out there who have the power to make a message reach a great amount of people, people who talk through movies, novels, newspaper articles, television debates, etc. I hope they understand their importance, and that what they communicate has the potential to tip the balance.